All the Water in the World By George Ella Lyon Illustrated by Katherine Tillotson A Richard Jackson Book, Atheneum (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-4169-7130-6 Ages 4-8 On shelves now The role of the public library has changed so often over the last century or so that its latest incarnation as a […]

Drawing from Memory By Allen Say Scholastic Press $17.99 ISBN: 978-0-545-17686-6 Ages 9-12 On shelves now. I am happy to report that there has been an uptick in options for those children handed the standard “You Must Read an Autobiography” assignment in school. Which is to say, more and more people are writing their autobiographies […]

Coral Reefs By Jason Chin Roaring Brook (an imprint of Macmillan) $16.99 ISBN: 978-1-59643-563-6 Ages 5 and up On shelves now First things first. Let’s just get something out the way here before I go any further. I am not exactly a disinterested party when it comes to this book. No, I don’t know the […]

From Then to Now: A Short History of the World By Christopher Moore Illustrated by Andrej Krystoforski Tundra Books $25.95 ISBN: 978-0-88776-5407 Ages 9 and up On shelves now. I have nothing but respect for contemporary historians. A few of them, let us be honest, are rock stars. They have to take something as strange […]

Alicia Alonso: Prima Ballerina By Carmen T. Bernier-Grand Illustrated by Raul Colon Marshall Cavendish $19.99 ISBN: 978-0-7614-5562-2 Ages 8-11 On shelves now When I was a kid I took a fair amount of ballet. I liked it. Kept me on my toes (yuk yuk yuk). I retain fond memories of that time in my life, […]

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans By Kadir Nelson Balzer and Bray (an imprint of Harper Collins) $19.99 ISBN: 978-0-06-173074-0 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Humans tend to be a highly visual species. When folks tell you not to judge a book by its cover, that’s an optimistic sentiment rather than […]

The Fabulous Flying Machines of Alberto Santos-Dumont By Victoria Griffith Illustrated by Eva Montanari Abrams Books for Young Readers $16.95 ISBN: 978-1-4197-0011-8 Ages 6-10 On shelves now The American publishing industry is good at a lot of things. They produce some pretty delightful fare for children on a variety of different topics. If you want […]

Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem By Rosalyn Schanzer National Geographic Children’s Books $16.95 ISBN: 978- 1426308697 Ages 10 and up On shelves September 13th Sometimes I wish I could sit down with my 10-year-old self and have a conversation. We’d chat about the improvements that will come to fashion someday (I […]

Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert By Marc Aronson Atheneum Books for Young Readers (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) $16.99 ISBN: 978-1416913979 Ages 10 and up On shelves August 30, 2011 The notion that history is always happening isn’t necessarily obvious to a kid. I remember […]

The Incredible Life of Balto By Meghan McCarthy Alfred A. Knopf (an imprint of Random House) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-375-84460-7 Ages 4 and up On shelves August 9th I’m not a dog person. Like ‘em fine. Don’t see much particular need to interact with them on a regular basis. Sometimes, though, I’ll feel like my life […]

Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero By Marissa Moss Illustrated by John Hendrix Abrams Books for Young Readers $18.95 ISBN: 978-0-8109-9735-6 Ages 6-12 On shelves now. If I want to depress myself on a given day I’ll compare the list of biographical subjects that kids in school are handed […]

Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) By Sue Macy National Geographic $18.95 ISBN: 978-1-4263-0761-4 Ages 10 and up. On shelves now. A history book for kids can do any number of things. It can concentrate on a topic that has been well-documented in […]

Vincent van Gogh and the Colors of the Wind By Chiara Lossani Illustrated by Octavia Monaco Eerdmans Books for Young Readers $18.99 ISBN: 978-0-8028-5390-5 Ages 7-10 On shelves now The art of the children’s biography is not for the faint of heart. If you think it consists of merely shuffling a few facts on a […]

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About A Fuse #8 Production

Features everything from librarian previews of upcoming children's books to news, reviews, and videos. If it has something to do with children's literature, it will rate a mention here.

Betsy Bird is the Youth Materials Specialist of New York Public Library. She's reviewed for The New York Times and Kirkus, writes articles for Horn Book and SLJ, and wrote the picture book Giant Dance Party. You can contact her at Fusenumber8@gmail.com or follow her on . . .